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NILES — The deadline to apply for an open seat on the Brandywine Board of Education has been extended until this Friday, Oct. 11 at 4 p.m. 

The vacancy came about after Board Vice-President Thomas Payne resigned in late September.

Brandywine school board members held a brief meeting Monday night to handle a number of routine matters. Members will meet again next Monday to interview applicants to serve the remaining two years of Payne’s unexpired term.

Superintendent Travis Walker said his office has received two applications so far. He told board members that he will provide them with the information provided by the applicants in advance of next Monday’s meeting.

He noted that the process will be the same as it was in July when the board interviewed applicants to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Angela Seastrom. The board deadlocked at that time and the Berrien RESA Board ended up interviewing applicants and appointed former Superintendent John Jarpe to fill the vacancy.

With Payne’s resignation, two of the four board members elected in November, 2022 have resigned with Board President Elaine McKee and Trustee Michelanne McCombs the only ones left of those four. The tenure of the four elected in 2022 has been filled with controversy and one failed recall attempt.

Payne submitted his resignation to McKee in a letter dated Sept. 27.

“It has been an honor to serve the District and the Brandywine community as President and now as Vice President,” he wrote. “I sincerely wish the Board of Education the best in all that is to be accomplished both now and in the future.”

Monday, board members took action on the most recent controversy the board has been dealing with, that of how to handle new federal Title IX rules that expand protections for transgender students. The board approved the formation of a new ad hoc committee to get input on what the district can do to protect all students’ rights.

That committee will be made up of students, staff and parents in addition to the two board members. Monday, McKee appointed Jarpe and McCombs as the two board representatives on the ad hoc committee.

Board members have been divided on what to do about the new Title IX rules. Jarpe and Jessica Crouch spoke last month in favor of adopting the Title IX language proposed by the district’s attorneys. Crouch said that the proposed policy gives her more protections and Jarpe said he feared legal ramifications for the district if the policy is not adopted.

Payne said he believed any policy the board adopts for the district should protect everyone’s privacy and that the primary focus should be the safety and security of all students. He said students should be protected who are not comfortable with biological males and females entering spaces they were previously not allowed to enter.

Other action at Monday’s meeting included re-establishing mileage and meal reimbursement rates for staff members as well as approving a fifth grade overnight camp request and the list of career technical education courses the district is offering this year.

In reports, Walker acknowledged October as Principals Month in Michigan and praised the work of the district’s four principals. “We have great principals who are great models for the staff and students and who put students first in everything they do,” he said.

He also noted that Oct. 2 was Custodial Day and he recognized the work of DM Burr, the company providing custodial service to the district. He said big improvements have been made over the last year with the district’s buildings much cleaner.

The final report Walker gave was about students’ reading abilities in developmental kindergarten. He noted that none of the 32 students in developmental kindergarten required individual reading improvement plans with all scoring above threshold levels on standardized tests.

“We’ve seen a good increase in reading scores and I attribute that to the work of interventionists, teachers and other staff,” he said. “Things are going really well with the reading program.”